Content of minor and trace elements, and organic nutrients in representative mixed total diet composites from the USA

As part of an international nutrition project sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (see footnote), Vienna, Austria, a number of bench-mark mixed total diet composites from the United States were collected and analyzed for minor and trace elements. In this segment of the project, the daily dietary intakes of the minor elements Ca, Cl, K, Mg, N and P and the trace elements Al, As, Au, Br, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Hg, I, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sn, Sr, V, Zn and W were determined in mixed total diet composites of foods collected in the FDA Total Diet Study (FDA-TDS). These diets are representative of foods consumed by 25-30-year-old males (representing the mixed population groups in the United States), the highest of eight intake groups in the TDS scheme. In order to link the US mixed diet composite results from this study group to the more comprehensive information generated by the FDA-TDS, the results are compared with the same age-sex group published by the FDA-TDS scheme. The FDA-TDS scheme is based on individual analysis of the 201 food items, with resultant calculation of the daily intake representative of various age-sex groups. The comparison shows excellent agreement for 21 elements which have been investigated by both approaches. Additional elements are reported in the US mixed diet composites from the present study which demonstrate a valuable supplement to the data obtained by FDA-TDS scheme. Further the mixed total diet composite approach has also proven useful for the assessment of dietary intake of proximates (protein, fat, carbohydrates), fiber and phytate. In addition, vitamins thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B6, B12, pantothenic acid, folic acid and biotin were also assayed in these composites.